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Bay City High School Freshmen Alex Cantu, left, and Jordan Carr, pose with BCHS teacher Julie Estlinbaum during a C.A.T. Camp activity at BCHS Aug. 17. For this team-building exercise, students had to complete a photo challenge, getting six prescribed photos. Here, the students get a photo with "a CAT Camp leader" - in this case, Mrs. Estlinbaum.
BCISD/Allison Sliva

Over 100 Bay City High School students got a jump-start on the new school year by participating in the second annual C.A.T. Camp at BCHS Aug. 17-19.
Freshmen through seniors attended the “Character-Achievement-Tradition” camp, which was led this year by teacher Amy Ging.
Committee members included BCHS staff and students.
Camp participants learned the BCHS Alma Mater, Fight Song, pep rally and game cheers, listened to motivational speakers, participated in team-building activities, and the like.
Ging said, “It was great to see such a spirited turnout, especially considering the bad weather and ongoing construction at BCHS. We had fun and got fired-up for the new school year – It’s a great day to be a Blackcat!”

Judge Craig Estlinbaum has been named to the planning committee for the State Bar of Texas’s upcoming Damages in Civil Litigation seminar.
Estlinbaum will join a team of attorneys and judges for organizing and planning the two-day seminar, which will be held live in Houston on February 16-17, 2017, at the Crowne Plaza River Oaks.
“I am very honored to have been asked to serve on this committee and look forward to working with these distinguished attorneys from around the State in developing this important educational program.” Estlinbaum said.
Estlinbaum is currently serving his fourth term as Judge of the 130th Judicial District Court of Texas and is in his 16th year of judicial service.
The 130th is a general jurisdiction court hearing criminal, family, civil, juvenile and tax cases.
Since 2004, Estlinbaum has taught as an adjunct professor of law at Houston College of Law.

Contributed photo
Bay City Police Captain Robert Lister, left, and Sergeant James Reckaway show off their graduation certificates from the Leadership Command College of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas.

Bay City Police Captain Robert Lister and Sergeant James Reckaway, recently graduated from the Leadership Command College – Class 77 of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas.
The program, taught by a consortium of Texas universities, provides law enforcement administrators and executives with necessary skills to manage police agencies and deliver high-level service to their communities.
Module I, focusing on leadership, is taught at the Center for Executive Development at Texas A&M University. Module II, at Texas Woman’s University, focuses on the political, legal, and social aspects of law enforcement.
The program concluded Aug. 12, with training in law enforcement administration at the third module - at Sam Houston State University.
Each of the three 3-week modules attended by program participants is taught by top national and international law enforcement experts.

Backpacks and supplies were dispersed to Boys & Girls Club of Bay City & Matagorda County members Aug. 17. Angie, Bobby and Faith Heidrich, Becky Cook, STP, Humphrey's Dental, Calvary Baptist Church and Pura Vida helped make it possible for the members, club officials said.
Contributed photo

Sentinel photo/Jessica Shepard
Volunteers from Power Church helped serve food and drinks to local residents attending the 3rd annual "Back to School Bash" Aug. 13.

Nearly 300 backpacks full of school supplies were handed out at the “Back to School Bash” Aug. 13.
“We had maybe about 400-450 people show up, including adults,” said Whitney White, founder of the event.
“We had more booth registrants, volunteers and support from the community. I think each year people are able to see our sustainability and the impact we make and they become more and more excited about being a part of the event.”
White’s goal this year was to get sponsorship letters to the community quicker than in previous years.
“I will always be accepting donations,” she said.
“Individuals or companies interested can contact me via email and I can provide further information to them regarding donations.”
White cites her job as a lawyer as a catalyst for this event.
“I come across a lot of kids whose families cannot afford to purchase day to day necessities,” she said.

An engine fire in a Blessing Volunteer Fire Department grass fire truck caused an estimated $84,000 loss of the vehicle and its equipment Aug. 15, the sheriff’s department reported.
The Precinct 4-owned Ford F-250 firefighting truck had just come back from a local body shop and the fire occurred shortly after the vehicle had been refueled at the Blessing fire station.
Once the vehicle was parked, a fire started under the hood and the vehicle became engulfed in flames and two men pushed the vehicle away from the fire station.
Another firefighting unit was pulled out from the station to put out the flames, the reports show.

Matagorda County Sheriff’s Department employees and others are circulating petitions to force the commissioners court to negotiate higher salaries for members of the department.
Department staff indicated the petitions had more than 600 names and the effort to obtain more signatures would continue.
Petition organizers said they were told by county officials last week that it was too late to have the salary issue put before Matagorda County voters as part of the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
The petition shows the present minimum hourly salaries and the proposed minimum hourly salaries for the following positions: captain, from $17.45 to $27.02; lieutenant, from $16.71 to $25.86; sergeants, from $16.73 to $21.81; deputies, from $15.20 to $19.76; detention officers, from $13.11 to $17.04; dispatcher, from $11.31 to $14.70; and dispatcher supervisor, $13.73 to $17.81.

Bay City school trustees have until midnight Monday Aug. 22, to decide if they will call for a possible $96.8 million bond election aimed at building and remodeling campuses across the district.
That was the message that an architectural team told the school board Monday night, Aug. 15.
The bond election would cover remodeling several campuses based on needs that a committee ranked over a series of meetings earlier this year.
Aug. 22 is the deadline for calling for a Nov. 8 bond election.
Bo Ledoux, Francis Zordilla and Jolie Willis – all with Claycomb Associates, Architects - presented an informational recap on the possibility of calling a bond election to trustees.
“The board did not take any action last night - we were just an information item,” said Willis.
The presentation began during the regular meeting and discussion continued after the session was officially adjourned.

Sentinel photo/Jessica Shepard
Nearly 300 backpacks full of school supplies were handed out - as well as hundreds of hot dogs - during the third annual "Back to School Bash" Saturday, Aug. 13. Th event was made possible by local donations and volunteers from The Law Office of WLP, PLLC, Power Church, Rivers of Living Water, Baby Bottoms Boutique, Amerigroup Healthcare Solutions, Kenneth Leatherman and others who choose to remain anonymous. Individuals who were unable to attend the bash can go to Power Church Monday-Friday from 8 am to 5 pm to obtain bags for their children.